Aquatic Pollution and Coastal Management

12.7.Advantages and Limitations of EIA:

Unit 12 : Environmental impact assessment

12.7.Advantages of EIA

• EIA is a mechanism, which helps in planning the efficient use of human and natural resources (mass and material), which has proved valuable to both those promoting development and those responsible for their authority.
• It may reduce costs and time taken to reach a decision by ensuring that subjectivity and duplication of efforts are minimized
• It identifies the primary and secondary consequences, which might necessitate the introduction of expensive pollution control measures.
• The incorporation of EIA into decision making creates a number of benefits. If a forecast of likely impacts is available, allowances can be made to minimize the negative impacts.
• EIA can identify those areas most susceptible to adverse impacts and so guide site selection.
• EIA can aid the most suitable site in terms of benefit maximization and reduction of harmful effects.
• The results of EIA studies of a selected site aid the determination of broad environmental, social or health critical to be used, when a large number of sites are screened for their suitability.

Problems and Limitations in EIA
Implementation of EIA faces problems due to,

• Poor availability and reliability of data
• Insufficient training/education in EIA methodologies and in the establishment of appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks and institutional arrangement
• Negligence of beneficial impacts in EIA reports
• Lack of consideration of alternative sites, technologies, designs and strategies
• Insufficient involvement and participation of all interested and affected parties
• Insufficient emphasis on required cost effectiveness of EIA
• Lack of follow up monitoring and evaluation
• Inappropriate recommendations – mitigation/adaptation measures which are not affordable or feasible in terms of maintenance.
• Poor presentation of EIA results.

With appropriate planning and integration of environmental concerns into development projects, environmental impacts can be minimized and social impacts can be completely mitigated.
Thus we assure at the notion of sustainable development “improving the quality of human life, while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystem”.